Creativity: An Essential Component in STEM Learning
If having innovative adults is a goal, then it is important to have creativity as an essential component in the education of young people. Innovation is “all about ideas.” Encouraging creative thinking in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) must begin early and remain a central emphasis throughout schooling, so it becomes the natural way […]
STEM Is for Everyone
Geeky boys excitedly huddled together, figuring out the latest glitch in their robot design — this is a popular stereotype image of engineering students. Not unexpectedly, such images turn off vast numbers of students who otherwise would be interested in studying science, mathematics and engineering. Girls especially may find such images unappealing. But the good […]
Simple Science Sparks
“From the concrete to the abstract; from the near to the far,” this is the first true principle of education. All children are born scientists. Children have boundless energy and being new to the world they are keen to figure out how the real world works. This they do by engaging with the real world […]
Understanding Data Means Changing Our World View
Hans Rosling explains why the way we use and interpret data reflects our world view. The world divided into the ‘developing’ and ‘developed’ world does not exist anymore, he says. There are different stages in the development of countries and thus in the progress made in the educational systems.
Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown: “We should be marching for Education for All”
At WISE 2011, Former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, makes an impassioned plea to strive to achieve Millennium Development Goal 2, Education for Alm, by 2015, because it is a goal that unlocks opportunity in every area of human life, bringing prosperity, freedom, equality and dignity. He calls for the creation of a global fund for […]
WISE Prize Laureate, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed: “BRAC has used education as one of the central themes in addressing inequity.”
Kirsty Lang, Master of Ceremonies, welcomes the WISE Prize Laureate, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder of BRAC. The Laureate describes BRAC’s early years and the growth of its programs over time. BRAC, has grown in four decades to now reach 140 million people in nine countries. He stresses that “education is the fundamental catalyst for […]
Ms. Josephine Green: It’s Time to Change – Really, Deeply, Truly
Josephine Green specializes in social foresight, innovation and change and is former Senior Director of Trends and Strategy at Philips Design, Philips, The Netherlands. Ms. Green participated in the WISE 2011 Debate on Developing New Approaches to Leadership. As part of its month-long focus on girls and women, WISE invited Ms. Green to write a guest […]
Steve Huggett: “It is very important to be flexible in the way that the curriculum is taught”
According to a report by the Autism Education Trust (AET) in the United Kingdom, “pupils with autism have ambitious goals in life and they must be supported to achieve them, alongside their peers.” On World Autism Awarenesss Day (April 02), we interviewed Steve Huggett, Director of the Autism Education Trust and the organisation’s Project Manager Sarah-Jane Critchley to look at what […]
Jorn West Larsen: “A learning environment that helps children’s learning styles”
If the school of the future is a place with few walls, then it already exists – at the Hellerup School in the Gentofle Municipality near Copenhagen. This modern public school, built on a former factory site, is a spacious, progressive learning space for up to 750 students and 65 teachers and assistants. The unique […]
Stephen Harris: “Redesigning Spaces Around Collaborative Teaching”
There is a clear movement occurring in education globally right now – a movement that is seeking to shift the epicentre of educational paradigms from an industrial-era experience to something more relevant to the ever changing and dynamic contexts of the 21st century. In the first decade of this new century, much great work has been […]